From WSJ: For the past couple of months, a growing number of investors have managed to convince themselves that the economy is recovering and the stock market is heading higher.Fresh news on home prices makes you wonder what they’re thinking.
The third quarter was a bust for home prices according to Zillow, the online real estate company. Average prices nationwide fell 1.2% just between the end of June and the end of September, it says. And the drop wasn’t just in the familiar disaster areas like Miami, either. Average home values in Seattle fell 4.3% during the summer months……………………………………….Full Article: Source

A new report from Zillow research predicts a further decline in home prices because of increased foreclosures and high inventory. More than 1.17 out of every 1,000 homes in the U.S. were liquidated in September, the highest number since 1996.
Furthermore, the high level of foreclosures is expected to remain elevated as the number of homes with negative equity increased to 23.2%, up from 22.5% in the second quarter. This surge in distressed sales has taken its toll on Zillow’s Home Value Index, which dropped 0.4% from August to September and 4.3% from September 2009……………………………………….Full Press Release: Source

From WSJ: Moody’s Investors Service said delinquencies on loans in U.S. commercial mortgage-backed securities increased in October, the fifth month in a row that the rate has grown.
Last month’s increase to 8.39% from 8.24% in September comes after a similar-sized gain in August. The pace of the increase in commercial property loan delinquencies has moderated as more loans have left delinquency……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Assetz.co.uk: Experts in the US expect to see a 40% increase in commercial property transactions next year as the country’s economy continues to expand. Buyers and sellers are predicted to complete $92 billion worth of deals for apartment, office, industrial and retail properties this year, and transactions will increase next year as US gross domestic product grows to 2.5%.
Josh Gelormini, director of capital markets research at Jones Lang LaSalle, said investors will begin taking on more risk and apartment buildings will remain attractive as new construction remains limited……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Themovechannel.com: Pending residential property sales in the US dropped 1.8% in September after two months of gains, the latest index to be published shows. The National Association of Realtors pending home sales index, a forward looking indicator, slipped to 80.9 in September and remains 24.9% below the surge to 107.8 a year ago when first time homebuyers jumped into the market to take advantage of the tax credit.
When it expired in April, however, the NAR index slumped 30% in one month……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Ipinglobal.com: High unemployment levels and rising personal debt are helping to contribute to a slowdown in growth of the US property market. Capital Economics has claimed that these factors are helping to dissuade individuals from making purchases in the sector despite record-low mortgage rates.
“Record low mortgage rates and the previous sharp declines in house prices mean that, by historical standards, housing has remained incredibly affordable and very undervalued,” the research firm said……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Reuters: US antitrust regulators approved Simon Property Group’s purchase of Prime Outlets on Wednesday on condition that it sell an outlet center in Ohio and remove restrictions on some tenant leases in Chicago and Orlando.
The Federal Trade Commission, which assessed the deal to ensure it complied with U.S. antitrust law, approved the purchase, the agency said in a statement……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Americanchronicle.com: Due to a strong appetite for retail properties and an active real estate investment trust (REIT) sector, commercial real estate investment sales dollar volume in Canada has already exceeded its 2009 year-end total.
By the end of the third quarter of 2010, over $12 billion in commercial real estate assets had changed hands - up 57% over the same nine-month period one year ago………………………………………Full Article: Source

From Propertywire.com: The election of Dilma Rousseff as the first female president of Brazil has been widely welcomed by the country’s growing real estate market. Industry professionals believe that she will push on with reforms and incentives when she takes office in January 2011 which will see the Brazilian property market continue to prosper.
‘With the election of Rousseff, the Brazilian property market has at least another ten years of growth……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Europe-re.com: European respondents to Colliers International’s Q3 2010 Global Investor Sentiment Survey see Eastern Europe as having firmly moved passed the bottom of the market cycle and is on the upswing, while in Western Europe the sentiment is more conservative with a slower recovery expected.
In addition, over 70% of European investor respondents expect to either expand or maintain their current level of real estate holdings over the next 12 months……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Globalpensions.com: The global real estate crisis has created investment opportunities for pension funds and other institutional investors, Mercer believes. In its paper ‘A new opportunity in European property debt’, Mercer said now may be an attractive time for institutional investors to commit assets to specialist funds investing in real estate debt.
After any crash there are opportunities in the purchase and workout of non-performing loans, it added, but the lower risk opportunity that Mercer identifies is in the issuance of new performing senior and mezzanine debt……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Propertyeu.info: Office occupier take-up in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) increased by 21% in the first three quarters of 2010 compared to the same period of last year, bringing the region’s year-to-date office take-up close to 2 million m2, according to the latest data from CB Richard Ellis (CBRE).
The majority of CEE’s major office markets such as Moscow, Warsaw and Bucharest saw a strong revival in demand in leasing activity with 1.2 million m2 leased in Moscow alone……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Reuters: The UK arm of ING Real Estate sees greater uncertainty in the UK commercial property market, with concerns over economic stimulus and austerity measures making short-term investment decisions difficult.
“Market pricing is being heavily distorted by artificial stimulus so it is unlikely we will get away without more volatility,” said Ian Whittock, chief investment officer of ING Real Estate Investment Management UK, said on Tuesday……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Telegraph: House prices will rise by 16 per cent in the next three years, economists predict. The Centre for Economics and Business Research expects property prices to rise by only 2.2 per cent next year as unemployment increases.
Jobless figures will rise on the back of public sector cuts and household incomes will remain under pressure, the economists say……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Realestatechannel.com: According to the London Property Barometer, a monthly report produced by London-based Douglas & Gordon, the home sales market is still slow despite predictions of coming market upturns.
Ivor Dickinson, Managing Director of Douglas & Gordon said, “The Christmas lull has come early for the London sales market with October seeing the lowest number of new valuations this year……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Realdeal.hu: The Budapest Property Market Index, a measure of supply and demand on the market as well as market players’ plans and expectations compiled by economic think tank GKI and professional journal Ingatlan es Befektetes, reached -23.3 points in October, an improvement of 8.5 points over July, but still 13 points under the level in before the crisis, GKI head Laszlo Akar said.
The sub-index for the warehouse market in the capital rose to -10 points in October from -25 points in July. The index was level with its rate in April 2008……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Globes.co.il: In the wake of soaring home prices in high demand areas, such as greater Tel Aviv and the Sharon, top real estate developers have set their sights elsewhere, on the “emerging markets” in the Israeli real estate scene.
A survey by Deloitte Brightman Almagor Zohar found that the developers believe that home prices and rents will continue to rise, especially outside greater Tel Aviv……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Emirates247.com: The real estate market in Sharjah has witnessed a further decline in prices for both rentals and purchases according to Arabic daily Al Ittihad.
Quoting figures from a bulletin issued by the Sharjah Real Estate Information Service, the newspaper said that while housing rents declined by as much as 13.4 per cent during the first half of this year, the average selling price per square foot of a plot in the emirate was down by about 5.5 per cent……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Zawya.com: The enforcement of the long-awaited mortgage law in Saudi Arabia will give a strong boost to the real estate sector but its impact is expected to take time, a key Saudi bank said on Tuesday.
The absence of a clear mortgage law framework to govern property ownership, property repossession, forced eviction and asset liquidation in the case of delinquency has been a key deterrent for banks in expanding lending in this segment, Banque Saudi Fransi (BSF) said……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Property-report.com: Activity in Asia’s real estate investment markets rose significantly in the third quarter of 2010 amid noticeable improvement in investor sentiment. In the quarter, most of the region’s major real estate markets regained momentum after the brief period of uncertainty following the onset of the eurozone sovereign debt crisis.
Direct real estate investment in the region, excluding land transactions, grew by 53 per cent quarter-on-quarter to an estimated US$18 billion, according to CB Richard Ellis’ Asia Investment MarketView report for the third quarter of 2010……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Indiatimes.com: Demand for commercial real estate has not shown improvement in line with the residential segment in the past one year and has continued to reel under the pressure of oversupply across India, but improved economic activity has now started narrowing the gap between supply and demand in this segment.
However, sustainability of the momentum is still a key concern, according to a report on the commercial real estate sector. “Demand for office space registered significant growth in 3Q 2010 (July–September) of 18% over the previous quarter, while supply recorded was lower by 11% in the same period……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Property-report.com: The real estate sector is booming with a rebound in sales in the last one year, ending a two-year sluggish trend and reawakening the market. Although a stable political and economic environment will help boost sales of apartments, commercial spaces and offices and plots in the future, unusual hike in property prices might affect apartment sales.
Market watchers state that real estate has seen a real boom in the last six months, causing property prices to escalate by up to 50 percent in the last year……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Peopledaily.com.cn: China’s property prices in October rose at the slowest pace in 10 months, after the government raised interest rates as part of Beijing’s latest moves to cool the real estate market.
Housing prices in 70 of the country’s large and medium-sized cities rose 0.2 percent in October from September, slower than the 0.5 percent increase in September, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Cnbc.com: Is Hong Kong building to another property bubble? Virtually everyone in the city wants to know. It’s the topic of top-level governmental discussion as well as chatter over dim sum at lunch. The city has one of the world’s most volatile and open property markets, reacting swiftly to external driving forces.
The memory is still fresh of the bubble and subsequent crash that saw prices here fall 60 percent between 1997 and 2003. But property is surging again, up 50 percent from early 2009 through mid-October……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Channelnewsasia.com: Singapore was the third-most expensive office location in the Asia-Pacific region in the third quarter of this year. According to property consultant Colliers International, it is the fifth straight quarter that Singapore has held that rank, with an annual gross rent of US$67 per square foot. That is a 15.6 per cent increase from the previous quarter.
Topping the list is Tokyo, which remained in first place with an annual gross rent of US$106.04 per square foot while Hong Kong remained in the second spot with an annual gross rent of about US$96.81 per square foot……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Tvnz.co.nz: Residential property sales numbers fell to 3903 in October, the first time they have fallen below 4000 in an October month for at least a decade, the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) said.
It was also the first time residential property transactions dropped below 4000 for any month since the record low 3666 sales in January this year. Last month’s figure compares with 4323 sales in September and 4287 in August……………………………………….Full Article: Source